| Out of the Closet with Child Abuse Third Party Opinion La Roche hotel roomsby Nori J. Muster This month the ISKCON Communications Journal published apaper by BurkeRochford, a professor at Middlebury College, VT, detailingwidespread child abuse inISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.It's extraordinary that ISKCON has come out publicly like this. On October9, The New York Times carried the story on its front page, and AssociatedPress, CNN, the Internet, and Religious News Service followed. ERROR MSGIn ISKCON's statement to the media, Anuttama Das, nationaldirector ofcommunications, said, "This type of problem thrives onsecrecy. We chose to print thearticles and bring the abuse out into the open as part of amulti pronged response toaddress past problems as well as to help prevent futureabuse of our children." Is this really a turning point in ISKCON's relationship withits children? The devotees in ISKCON Communications, ISKCON World Review,Children ofKrishna, Child Protection, Vaishnava Youth Ministry, and manyindividuals from the secondgeneration have worked hard for years to bringthis story tolight. They deserve congratulations and support. I believe that revealing the story is the best thing--andpossibly the most honestthing--the Hare Krishnas have done since the sixties.However, the branch that issued thebrave press release is only one face of ISKCON. There areothers who were mortified by thepublic disclosure and will continue to live in their oldways as much as possible. Theybelieve that denial is the best policy, andexposing old dirty laundry will onlyhurt the movement. However, the policy of sweeping thingsunder the carpet has led to continuedmolestations, beatings, death threats, slanders, arguments,lawsuits and tears in thedevotee community. The cult-like atmosphere of "us and them"at the temples allows these things to go on withoutquestion. Basically, in a conservative ISKCON temple, anyonewho disagrees with the leaders' activities is in danger oflosing their apartment and their opportunity to serveKrishna in the temple. The ISKCON mafia-mentality started with Ramesvara, the manwho was my "guru." Hebehaved like a gangster. He and others like him took overadministration of ISKCON andsystematically forced ninety percent of Prabhupada'sdisciples to leave. It's been a difficult twenty-one yearsfor everyone. The kids who suffered through that transition are now intheir late twenties and early thirties. They suffered terrible abuse and neglect. Manyneed compensation to get on with their lives. Butbesides money, the victims and their families deserve justice. Luxus-Hotel ThessalonikiFrom my observation, many perpetrators stillwork for the organization and represent themselves asspiritual authorities. Less than a year ago, one ISKCON gururesigned after people found out that he had touched amale follower inappropriately. As one of thesecond generation said on the internet: "All I want to see [is]ISKCON kick all the abusers out of their positions. I can'tstand to go to a GBC meeting or festival and see thesepeople still posturing as advanced devotees. I feel likekicking their ass when I see them--many of my friends feelthe same way." As long as the perpetrators remain in ISKCON, it is adangerous place for children and child abuse survivors. Unfortunately, someof the abusers and their codependents are in a position to exact revengeinstead of leaving. They justify it in their minds, believing that somehowthey are the ones who have been wronged. Everyone is afraid of them, orthey would have been gone long ago. The New York Times disclosure was a victory for the liberalKrishna faction. If this group takes control of the institution, thenthere could be a whole new Hare Krishna movement. It would be a miracle;even abuse victims from other walks of life may learn something from theKrishna kids' story. I hope the house cleaning project is successful. Thesecond generation's courage in bringing their story to light is a welcomesign for the future of ISKCON. Let's leave aside the child abuse issue and go to other aspects of the coverage. The New York Times article said: "The movement now claims an estimated 90,000 followers inthe United States, ofwhom only about 800 live full time in the group's 45American spiritual communities,called ashrams. At the movement's peak in the United Statesin the late 1970s, about10,000 devotees lived in American ashrams, but most now liveand work in the secularworld. Another significant shift is that where once themovement in the United Statesconsisted almost entirely of Anglo converts to Hinduism,about half of the people nowworshipping in Krishna temples in the United States arerecent immigrants from Indiaand Asia. "In recent years, the Krishna movement has experienced itsbiggest growth in EasternEurope and in India, where it was once regarded with disdainby native Hindus.Internationally, there are now an estimated 1 millionadherents to the Hare Krishnamovement, known formally as ISKCON, or the InternationalSociety of KrishnaConsciousness." First of all, 90,000 followers in the United States is an exaggeration.Right now, ISKCON is lucky that anyone is following them. There are alot of people outside ISKCON who would be willing to give them a secondchance if they can actually turn the abuse situation around. The figure of 800 full time devotees living in the ashram isexactly what I wouldestimate, and that is down from about 5,000 in 1978, whenSrila Prabhupada died.At its height, the Hare Krishnamovement was about the size of a small college (but spreadall over the world). Now it's the size of a school auditorium. ISKCON Communications says that most ISKCON devotees liveand work in thesecular world, implying that they have a large congregation.However, many of us leftunhappy. It also says that the nature of their following hasshifted from American kids to AsianIndians. It will be nice if this trend continues, becauseHindus represent the teachings in a way that American convertsrarely do. They say that internationally ISKCON has one million adherents, but thatnumber also seems high. Granted, people in Eastern Europe and the formerSoviet countries are now aware of the Hare Krishnas. Devotees (includingsecond generation Krishnas) recently touredEastern Europe playing live rock Krishna music for largeappreciative audiences. However, ISKCON's guru there, the former chairmanof the GBC and leader of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, justresigned over a scandal. The ISKCON Communications press release says, "The depth of the abuse was first highlighted at a nationalmeeting of ISKCON leaders inMay, 1996. At that time, ten young Krishna adults shockedthe leadership during apresentation where they shared their personal stories ofneglect and abuse." alberghi a JurmalaThey say the depth of the abuse was first highlighted in1996. Actually, the GBC (the Governing Body Commission, ISKCON's board ofdirectors)were aware of it much earlier, but neglected to act on the information. The event in 1996 was the exact point when the GBC acknowledged that they were aware of the problem. ERROR MSGIn The New York Times, Anuttama says: "We need to get to the bottom of it, and to the best of ourability do whatever we can totry to repair the damage to the kids and show them we docare as a religious society." He also told the Associated Press: "We want people to be aware of the depth of the problem anddo everything possible toprotect kids in the future. The first step is to puteverything on the table and do everythingto rectify past mistakes." We agree that they have put things on the table.Now we will watch and wait, to see what the organizationdoes to make amends. Email Nori Muster | back to timeline |